Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: How should I code anesthesia for a transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) procedure with probe placement? Minnesota Subscriber Answer: It looks like your anesthesiologist is involved with 93312 (Echocardiography, transesophageal, real-time with image documentation [2D] [with or without M-mode recording]; including probe placement, image acquisition, interpretation and report). The anesthesia crosswalk for 93312 and the subsequent TEE codes is 01922 (Anesthesia for non-invasive imaging or radiation therapy). Keep these tips in mind when reporting TEE: • When you report intraoperative TEE by an anesthesiologist, you should usually include modifier 59 (Distinct procedural service). This applies to TEE codes 93312-93317, +93320, +93325, and 93799 (Unlisted cardiovascular procedure or service). • When your anesthesiologist performs the service in a hospital inpatient/outpatient setting, the technical component is considered a Part A service and is not billable to Part B. Report the service with modifier 26 (Professional component). This applies to codes 93312, 93314, 93315, [...]